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Originally seen on Planetizen.com, this article by Steven Snell tugs on my heart strings. How can we create a humane (or, as the article refers to it, a human(e)) city? What does it mean to be a human(e) environment?

I’m here at work creating a list of the challenges we (our firm) face in our work. The next task: to create a list of the problems our clients face. Yet, I find it much easier to view Planet Earth as our client, and its challenges are indeed many.

While I list these threats—all very significant, all looming—I feel surprisingly less uneasy as I would have expected. In fact, I feel relieved; as if listing these massive problems will help me wrap my brain around them, and guide every action from this day forward in an effort to address, resolve, or at least pacify them somewhat.

They are, nevertheless, monumental. My list evolved:

Depleted resources

Social unrest

A changing climate

Extreme weather events

Global habitat destruction/loss and global species extinction

Pollution and contamination of all Earth’s ecosystems (including the omnipresence of trash)

Continued and potentially increasing violence, at many scales

Extreme population growth

Energy dependence (rather than self-reliance)

Loss of human interaction; society becomes a slave to technology

Worldwide hunger

Economic instability (on a national level) and poverty (on the individual level [albeit an issue tied to the entirety of society])

Globalization (including the spread of invasive, non-native species and the loss of culture and individuality)

Putting these worries to paper was therapeutic, but putting pen to paper is not a solution. The step, now, is to DO SOMETHING. And every person, no matter how small, has the ability to affect great change. This list will be in the back of my mind, a constant reminder of what I’m fighting for: a safer, healthier, inclusive, equitable, “greener,” cultural, and more sustainable and resilient Earth.

It’s no easy task, but I remain ever the optimist. With collaboration and a concerted effort, we can quell these noisy threats.

In my line of work, I’m constantly trying to understand the most effective and efficient ways of engaging the general public. I view myself (both professionally and in my personal life) as a channel, or medium, providing a voice for those who need it. This has never been more true as now, as I approach my American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) exam. The AICP Code of Ethics reminds me (as I believe so strongly already) that my responsibility, as a planner, is to serve the public interest.

Planners for local governments, of course, have an explicitly clear responsibility to serve the public interest; however, private consulting planners, while no doubt in strong support of continual and inclusive engagement, are often limited by the interests of their clients, or scopes of their projects.

For this short, personal research project, I explored the benefits of community engagement and public participation, and questioned how these benefits could be conveyed to clients in such a way as to demonstrate value and effectively encourage a client to pursue a comprehensive engagement process.

Myself and my firm, Mahan Rykiel Associates of Baltimore, MD, have been successful in advocating for a public process in many of our projects—from an Economic Development Strategic Plan in Lancaster, PA, to master planning efforts in Baltimore neighborhoods and Parks (as I demonstrate our process for some of these projects in the linked presentation below). Yet, at the same time, we continually explore ways to improve our methods, particularly following a handful of projects where public engagement has been less than expected, desired, or ideal.

It’s a challenge that I (and, I’m sure, many others) continue to face; I welcome any suggestions for working with clients to enhance public participation! Do share! Have you any success stories?